


The Green Enemy

by AshsHorrorShow



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study, Drabble, Fear, Gen, Paranoia, Plants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 13:03:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15219746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshsHorrorShow/pseuds/AshsHorrorShow
Summary: Whenever Pamela Isley was out, paranoia in Gotham seemed to rise.





	The Green Enemy

Whenever Pamela Isley was out of Arkham, whether it be via legal release, or, the more likely reason, through escaping, paranoia heightened in Gotham. Even more than usual, that is. 

Potted plants that were once sitting decoratively on window sills were suddenly smashed and stomped into the ground. 

Dedicated gardeners would suddenly let their well-tended garden die, or at the very least, let it “fend for itself for while” until it was confirmed Isley was back in Arkham. 

Florist shops were avoided like the plague. That was a good thing for those shops though, given the fact that a good majority of the employees would suddenly develop a fever or needed to leave for XYZ reasons around this time anyhow. 

Events would be held in buildings that had absolutely no plants. 

Some people would even try to start fires in public parks and greenhouses.

There was also those who took the opposite approach. For every person who abandoned or destroyed any plants near them, there were about eight people who would suddenly develop an interest in taking care of the environment. Buildings in Gotham would suddenly start implementing more green energy. Plants were grown in various locations and treated like royalty. Recycling and compost went up significantly. No pesticides were used on crops when she was out and about. 

Both sides were radically different in approach, but they were all aiming for the same goal: to try and avoid Isley and her “pets’” wrath. 

The thing that differentiated Isley from the other rogues was that she didn’t even have to do _anything_ to set off sparks of fear. Like sure, everyone in Gotham was afraid of Joker. Who wouldn’t be? The clown and his girlfriend were terrifying. When those two were out, no one knew who would be the next victim of their endless killing sprees. They killed indiscriminately. 

However, there was a level of predictability to the Joker and Harley Quinn as well. That predictability being they rarely kept their crimes simple. Sure, there were a few people who they killed with only a gunshot or an acid pie or something simple like that, but those were usually low numbers and only occurred when they were really annoyed. However, when it came to actually implementing their plans, they were, in a macabre sense, artists. They wanted their next debuts to be a spectacle. 

After all, criminals were a dime a dozen in Gotham. To stand out, one had to go above and beyond. Any old criminal could rob the bank, or even blow it up. However, it took a particularly memorable villain to make the bank blow up by shooting a laughing gas bomb out of a clown mouth cannon. Then to finish off anyone who managed to survive that initial explosion horribly by spraying acid on them… and then to top it off, just burn the money while laughing maniacally about it before trying to blow up even more buildings.

That was the kind of show Gothamites expected from the Joker. 

Now, of course, such a display was terrifying, however, in a way, it was comforting. Because in order for such a plan to get executed, it was going to take a lot of things. Workers, materials, money, a plan, the actual construction of all the devices, and most importantly, time. It took a long time for these things to be executed in full. So much, that they usually never did get executed in full.

A lot of people told the stories of all the successful, or at least, _nearly_ successful rogue plans. After all, they were the juiciest stories to tell. 

However, because those were the only stories that tended to be told by the citizens of Gotham, they often left out the _other_ did have superpowers. 

She had the ability to make plants sprout out of the ground. Now, on the surface, that sounded almost pleasant. Cheerful, even. Like something one would see out of an animated movie for children. However, this was not the case with Pamela’s plants. While she could make innocent little flowers and speak to the plants nearby, the “pets” she normally made were nowhere near as innocent. In fact, they were downright terrifying. They were as dangerous as rabid lions, maybe even more so, because they could sprout anywhere. They loved to feast on humans and melt them with their acid or shoot out poisonous spores or strangle people with their vines. 

And what is worst was she didn’t have to be with them directly to do this. Just a passing whisper from her, and suddenly, the plants in the area would all turn murderous all of a sudden, or perhaps a giant venus flytrap would suddenly burst from the ground and gobble someone else up.

And she didn’t target specific people like most of the other rogues did. No. All of humanity seemed to be Isley’s enemy. Which made everyone a target too her pets. 

And seeing as there were plants everywhere, the unpredictability of it all scared Gothamites, and soon, normal occurrences were suddenly questioned.

Someone’s dog suddenly goes goes missing. People began questioning if something from the park it visited every day snatched it up and turned it into fertilizer. 

Dead bodies were unfortunately very common course in Gotham, for a multitude of reasons, be it drug overdoses, violent robberies, being collateral damage in a rogue’s plans, etc. Most cadavers were simply considered the tragic reality of life in Gotham. 

However, when Pamela Isley was out, bodies started to be received with more skepticism if they happened to be near any sort of plant… even if it was just small weeds growing out of the gaps of concrete sidewalks. Did spores kill them? Was that wound from a venomous plant taking a chomp out of them. They couldn’t know.

Someone acting slightly different than they usually did might be under her control and they would be met with suspicion.

Yes, everyone in Gotham was on edge when Pamela Isley was out, even if she didn’t do anything drastic. 

And as the citizens practically leapt out of their skin if a breeze so much as moved a plant, they could only imagine that while they were pulling their hair out with worry, Pamela Isley was sitting somewhere, smiling at the idea of their fear. 

And they were right.

She was.

**Author's Note:**

> Not my best work, but it was fun to write. 
> 
> Inspired by the fact I realized just how SCARY Pamela's powers truly are. I also find it fascinating that she is one of the few rogues who seems to have genuine powers (well, at least in some incarnations). 
> 
> As always, critique is wanted and I hope you enjoyed. If you see any mistakes, feel free to point them out and I will fix immediately.
> 
> Also, quick little fun fact, every single fucking time I saw the title of this fic in my documents, That Green Gentleman by Panic! At the Disco would play in my head.


End file.
